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Brush lettering is a beautiful craft that is a tribute to hand lettering and calligraphy. There's so much inspiration online! For example, many posts within the Lettering League feature brush lettering.

In this post, I'll walk you through how to get started with brush lettering. This post includes a video tutorial to help you learn the 8 basic strokes needed to create brush calligraphy letters. These basic strokes are fantastic to learn now, so you can practice them with lettering drills and help to perfect your brushed letters.

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Brush Lettering Stroke Basics

When brush lettering, make sure your downstrokes are all consistently angled. Use more pressure. The downstrokes are the thick parts of brush lettering. Making your own calligraphy guide can help with the angle a ton. You won't always need to use the calligraphy guide, but practicing with one while you're learning can help you develop the muscle memory needed to create consistent and beautiful letters in the future.

Make all of your upstrokes with very light pressure. The upstrokes are the thin parts of brush lettering. Also, any crossbar strokes should be made with light pressure.

The 8 Basic Strokes of Brush Lettering

Almost every letter can be created with these 8 basic brush lettering strokes. Don't believe me? I'll show you in future posts!

Watch the video below to learn about the basic strokes and how to create them.

Note: This post was originally published in September 2014, but has since been updated to be better and more helpful! Look for more posts on brush lettering soon.

Not sure where to get started with brush lettering?

The Getting Started with Brush Lettering e-book was designed to be a guide for brush lettering beginners—for those of you who want to dive into brush lettering but have no idea where to start. This comprehensive guide will get you started with an in-depth look at materials, practice strokes, drills, and next steps for your passion.